Chael Sonnen Blasts Conor McGregor for Rolling the Dice Against UFC
Chael Sonnen Blasts Conor McGregor for Rolling the Dice Against UFC
Chael Sonnen has never been one to bite his tongue when it comes to buzz-worthy MMA material.A shockwave rippled through the MMA community on Tuesday aftern
Chael Sonnen has never been one to bite his tongue when it comes to buzz-worthy MMA material.
A shockwave rippled through the MMA community on Tuesday afternoon when Irish superstar Conor McGregor announced his apparent retirement on Twitter.
Although the current featherweight champion's post was cryptic, headlines exploded across news outlets worldwide. UFC President Dana White further fueled the controversy on SportsCenter that night when he announced McGregor had been removed from his main event against Nate Diaz at UFC 200 on July 9 due to disagreements over media appearances.
As one of the leading voices in the sport, Sonnen naturally had to address the biggest news to hit MMA this year. The current World Series of Fighting broadcaster took to a Facebook Live chat to share his thoughts:
"Conor has a contract. He made a deal. Somewhere, he didn’t sign it, let the promotion go, let the money get spent and then realized, ‘I’ve got the upper hand, now I can come back and renegotiate. Who’s going to tell me no when the advertising’s already done?’ That’s what he did. Guaranteed. With no inside knowledge, guaranteed that’s what happened. That’s not going to work. That’s what happened."
As for the legitimacy of McGregor's retirement claim, Sonnen concluded McGregor truly could be hanging up his gloves for good.
"Yeah. He might really be done. I don’t know if he wants to be done. This was a negotiation tool. But he called the bluff of the wrong guys. These are gamblers, man. There’s rules in Vegas. You say bet, you have a bet. I mean that. You ever go to a casino, you put your money down, you tell the pit boss, ‘I want that bet,’ and he yells the word, ‘bet,’ you have a bet. And it goes both ways. If you win it, he’ll pay you.
"This was a negotiation tool. But anytime you go into a negotiation and you call someone’s bluff, man, you better mean it. Because this is what can happen."
A shockwave rippled through the MMA community on Tuesday afternoon when Irish superstar Conor McGregor announced his apparent retirement on Twitter.
Although the current featherweight champion's post was cryptic, headlines exploded across news outlets worldwide. UFC President Dana White further fueled the controversy on SportsCenter that night when he announced McGregor had been removed from his main event against Nate Diaz at UFC 200 on July 9 due to disagreements over media appearances.
As one of the leading voices in the sport, Sonnen naturally had to address the biggest news to hit MMA this year. The current World Series of Fighting broadcaster took to a Facebook Live chat to share his thoughts:
"Conor has a contract. He made a deal. Somewhere, he didn’t sign it, let the promotion go, let the money get spent and then realized, ‘I’ve got the upper hand, now I can come back and renegotiate. Who’s going to tell me no when the advertising’s already done?’ That’s what he did. Guaranteed. With no inside knowledge, guaranteed that’s what happened. That’s not going to work. That’s what happened."
As for the legitimacy of McGregor's retirement claim, Sonnen concluded McGregor truly could be hanging up his gloves for good.
"Yeah. He might really be done. I don’t know if he wants to be done. This was a negotiation tool. But he called the bluff of the wrong guys. These are gamblers, man. There’s rules in Vegas. You say bet, you have a bet. I mean that. You ever go to a casino, you put your money down, you tell the pit boss, ‘I want that bet,’ and he yells the word, ‘bet,’ you have a bet. And it goes both ways. If you win it, he’ll pay you.
"This was a negotiation tool. But anytime you go into a negotiation and you call someone’s bluff, man, you better mean it. Because this is what can happen."